What Is a Digital Marketing RFP?

What Is a Digital Marketing RFP?

Creating and managing a digital marketing strategy can be a massive challenge for many businesses, especially those with limited employees and resources. For these kinds of teams, it can be beneficial to outsource their digital marketing to an agency. This gives organizations access to experts that can run their digital marketing effort, as well as fantastic technology and tools to give them the edge over competitors. Finding the right agency for your business can be a difficult process, but it’s well worth the results that are waiting for you in the end.

A digital marketing RFP, or request for proposal, is an essential part of this process. Here, we’ll go through what a digital marketing RFP is, why it’s important to get your RFP right, and a sample RFP template that you can tailor to use in your own quest for the right digital marketing solution for your business.

What is involved in a digital marketing RFP?

A digital marketing RFP is a document used during the pitching process for your business to get a better idea of which digital marketing agency is right for your project. A digital marketing RFP typically includes some background information about your company, an overview of your digital marketing project (including KPIs, company goals, and deadlines), and access to any tools or data that your chosen agency may need to manage your digital marketing. Your RFP should also pose any questions your company needs to know about your chosen agency — for example, how they would approach your project, any use cases of their previous work, and how they are equipped to deal with your needs.

Why is a digital marketing RFP important?

Your digital marketing RFP is your chance to thoroughly investigate agencies before inviting them to pitch for your project, so it’s important that it covers everything you need to know from them. 

Without a proper RFP, you may end up partnering with an agency that is completely mismatched with your digital marketing needs. Without sufficient detail and information, agencies may be forced to take a stab in the dark with their answers to your RFP — meaning many of your goals may get lost in translation, and your digital marketing objectives may not be fulfilled.

Digital marketing RFP template

A digital marketing RFP should be unique to your company and its objectives, but there are a number of points that every RFP should typically include. To create your own digital marketing RFP, use this list as a template and include:

• Overview of your business: Include your company details, your values, location(s), team sizes, and any key stakeholders. 
• Your business goals: What is your business’s overall aim, and how does its product or service contribute to that? Give information about what you want from your digital marketing strategy, and be sure to illustrate the link between digital marketing and your overall company goals.
• Your current digital presence: Where is your digital marketing strategy currently at? Be honest about what’s working and what’s not — including where you’ve been focusing your efforts, what tools you use, and the challenges you’ve faced so far. 
• Scope of work: Simply put, what do you want your agency to do? Detail exactly what you need from your agency, where you need them to direct their efforts, and how much work is involved.
• Your project objectives: Again, this is a space to detail what you need from your agency. Be specific about your goals, for example: “We want to increase leads generated from our online channels by X% over the next X months.”
• Your competitors: Identify a few competitors in your industry, and point out any of their digital marketing campaigns that impressed or inspired you. 
• Your target audience: Give details about your buyer personas and who you want to target with your digital presence. 
• Timeframe: When do you want to see results?
• Budget: How much can you pay for your agency’s work?
• Your selection criteria: Give details about how you will be selecting a suitable agency, so potential agencies can understand what’s expected of them. Outline when their proposals are due, a timeline of when you expect to sign an agreement, and what you expect from them throughout the process.
• Contact information: Provide a point of contact that your agencies can come to with any questions or updates. 

Remember, every company’s digital marketing needs are different. Be sure to be as thorough as possible when creating your RFP so that you can partner with the best agency for you.